Well, not really for the soul, but it feels like it. Today I had to work until 7:00 so I made a lovely crock pot stand by, chicken soup. Tonights chicken soup was really a left over mishmash of vegetables. 10 medium sized carrots, 5-6 green onions, a quarter of a head of cabbage, about a half a bunch of celery and a few bigger radishes.
Last night I cut all the veggies and put them in the fridge. Then this morning I placed about a 2 1/2 pound chicken in the bottom of the crock pot then threw the veggies on the top with salt and pepper and about 4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary. I then put in 4 cups or a whole box of chicken broth followed by about 4 cups of water and a little more salt and pepper. I turned the crock pot on low at about 8:30 this morning.
When I got home a little after 7:30 I took the chicken out and de-boned it. It is always a little bit of a feat to get the chicken out and not leave bones in the pot. Since the chicken falls right off the bone some of the little bones like to stay in the pot. Keep digging and you will find them all. Place the crock pot on warm at this point because there should be no more cooking to be done. While the chicken is cooling for deboning with your hands throw in a package of wheat flour egg noodles. Add some more salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken back in the pot and serve. We always add more salt and pepper when serving. It may seem like there is a lot of salt and pepper in there, but I never put a lot in. I always put small portions and then add as needed. We grind both our salt and pepper so I think you do not get as much out without a significant amount of work.
Rating-8- What would have made it better? More carrots!!! A little too much rosemary according to my husband, but I did not think this was the case.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Nettle & Kale Soup
Well, not really nettles. This morning looking at our CSA stock I looked in one of my favorite soup books, Love Soup to find a soup recipe. I knew I wanted to use the kale and collard greens we had received on Sunday. So I set out to make Nettle and Kale soup with some modifications. The problem is the book made it seem that there are nettles at every farmer's market and grocery store. This is not the case. While there are nettle teas and other homeopathic remedies, you cannot just pick up nettles at your local food market regardless of how eccentric it is. The reason for this is that nettles are weeds! You can find them growing in the forest, but a store is not going to carry them because they sting. You don't want them sitting next to your bundles of chard and kale because you might get stung by touching them. So I had to modify the recipe, which is a normal occurrence in my house. I actually asked my sisters food guru friend who is a chef and she said her very fancy and healthy restaurant in San Francisco only had one supplier of nettles. So, if her restaurant did not have them from multiple sources, how was I supposed to find them.
Recipe
(You can chop everything coarsely because you are going to blend the soup.)
2 bunches of kale
1 bunch of collard greens
1 sweet potato
1 large yellow onion
2 cups of organic vegetable broth
3 limes
1 can of white beans rinsed
olive oil for sautéing the onions
salt & pepper to taste
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
In a big soup pot heat the oil and sauté the onions. Saute on low heat. It will take about 20-25 minutes to saute the onions. While the onions are cooking boil 4 cups of water with the sweet potato and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt for about 20-25 minutes. When the potatoes and onions are done join them together in the soup pot. Add the vegetable broth, kale and collard greens. Once they are wilted a little bit add the beans. Add salt and pepper for the initial cooking. Cook for about 20 minutes. When the greens are tender, but not brown. Add the lime juice. Take the soup off the heat and use the immersion blender to blend to soup. You can use a regular blender, but I love my immersion blender. It is an inexpensive ($25) purchase for how often I use it. When the soup is all blended return it to the heat for a final heat up before serving. Add some more salt, pepper and lime to taste. Serve with a dolop Greek Yogurt. We also put a little more salt and pepper on.
I made the following recipe modifications. I added the beans for protein. I also included limes instead of lemons which the recipe called for. See the late note about the rating. You already read about the nettles. The recipe called for leaks as well, but we did not have any. I do not think the soup was missing the leaks.
I apologize for there being no pictures. My camera was dead and I did not realize it.
Rating 6 1/2- The rating came from it being very healthy, but missed some on the flavor. The recipe called for lemons which we did not have, but I had a ton of limes. I think lemon would have been better. I also think I would have sauteed some cloves of garlic with the onions just to add a little sweet and savory flavor to the soup. When sauteed right garlic has a beautiful sweet flavor. According to Julia Child you need to not brown it but cook it slowly. You can do this with onions as well. It brings out such a lovely flavor.
Recipe
(You can chop everything coarsely because you are going to blend the soup.)
2 bunches of kale
1 bunch of collard greens
1 sweet potato
1 large yellow onion
2 cups of organic vegetable broth
3 limes
1 can of white beans rinsed
olive oil for sautéing the onions
salt & pepper to taste
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
In a big soup pot heat the oil and sauté the onions. Saute on low heat. It will take about 20-25 minutes to saute the onions. While the onions are cooking boil 4 cups of water with the sweet potato and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt for about 20-25 minutes. When the potatoes and onions are done join them together in the soup pot. Add the vegetable broth, kale and collard greens. Once they are wilted a little bit add the beans. Add salt and pepper for the initial cooking. Cook for about 20 minutes. When the greens are tender, but not brown. Add the lime juice. Take the soup off the heat and use the immersion blender to blend to soup. You can use a regular blender, but I love my immersion blender. It is an inexpensive ($25) purchase for how often I use it. When the soup is all blended return it to the heat for a final heat up before serving. Add some more salt, pepper and lime to taste. Serve with a dolop Greek Yogurt. We also put a little more salt and pepper on.
I made the following recipe modifications. I added the beans for protein. I also included limes instead of lemons which the recipe called for. See the late note about the rating. You already read about the nettles. The recipe called for leaks as well, but we did not have any. I do not think the soup was missing the leaks.
I apologize for there being no pictures. My camera was dead and I did not realize it.
Rating 6 1/2- The rating came from it being very healthy, but missed some on the flavor. The recipe called for lemons which we did not have, but I had a ton of limes. I think lemon would have been better. I also think I would have sauteed some cloves of garlic with the onions just to add a little sweet and savory flavor to the soup. When sauteed right garlic has a beautiful sweet flavor. According to Julia Child you need to not brown it but cook it slowly. You can do this with onions as well. It brings out such a lovely flavor.
Monday, May 2, 2011
What I am Doing?
I love to cook. I also love to cook healthy. My friend, Jenny, says one of the reason she loves me is that, "she actually thinks that her super-healthy food tastes good." I would agree with her. I think healthy food actually tastes good.
I got married six months ago and have been cooking a lot more. Like 3-4 times a week. This does not seem like a lot to most people, but I am at work at least 3 nights a week until late. Cooking this much is a joy! Also embarking upon this cooking journey is our joining of a CSA. We love the one we joined, J R Organics. I love the variety of food we get and the fact that we pick up at the Farmers Market. This means we get to swap out things we do not really eat a lot of, like lettuce. Cook a vegetable like kale or collard greens and I am in heaven. Make me eat a salad and I am in hell. Why they are so astronomically different, I do not know, but in my mind they are.
I also do not like to cook the same dish multiple times. I get bored really easily. Part of it is that when I make something I always make too much. We have leftovers for days. This means by the time I have had something four times, I can no longer eat it.
A lot of my recipes are made up based on what we have in the house. The CSA determines a lot of that. I also use the internet and cook books, but a lot of my meals are based on guesswork. There will be no exact recipes, unless I got them from another website. Sorry. I almost never stick strictly to the recipe unless I am baking, which I rarely do, or cooking something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia Child must be obeyed at all times! A lot of my recipes are vegetarian. We do not eat a lot of meat for both health and sustainability reasons. We are not vegetarians, but you will find a lot of recipes with tofu, beans and other protein substitutes. This kills my mom. She thinks we should have meat at least once a day. This will never happen. I have never been a big meat eater and I am not going to start now.
So this blog is going to be about the meals I make. I will also include the ratings my husband gives them on a 1-10 scale. He gives a lot of dishes 6 1/2. This in his mind is better than average. A 6 1/2 is actually a pretty good rating. I have never gotten higher than a 9 and he loves my cooking. I have gotten a 3 once, but that was after the Easter bean fiasco of 2010, but we won't talk about that.
Enjoy!
I got married six months ago and have been cooking a lot more. Like 3-4 times a week. This does not seem like a lot to most people, but I am at work at least 3 nights a week until late. Cooking this much is a joy! Also embarking upon this cooking journey is our joining of a CSA. We love the one we joined, J R Organics. I love the variety of food we get and the fact that we pick up at the Farmers Market. This means we get to swap out things we do not really eat a lot of, like lettuce. Cook a vegetable like kale or collard greens and I am in heaven. Make me eat a salad and I am in hell. Why they are so astronomically different, I do not know, but in my mind they are.
I also do not like to cook the same dish multiple times. I get bored really easily. Part of it is that when I make something I always make too much. We have leftovers for days. This means by the time I have had something four times, I can no longer eat it.
A lot of my recipes are made up based on what we have in the house. The CSA determines a lot of that. I also use the internet and cook books, but a lot of my meals are based on guesswork. There will be no exact recipes, unless I got them from another website. Sorry. I almost never stick strictly to the recipe unless I am baking, which I rarely do, or cooking something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia Child must be obeyed at all times! A lot of my recipes are vegetarian. We do not eat a lot of meat for both health and sustainability reasons. We are not vegetarians, but you will find a lot of recipes with tofu, beans and other protein substitutes. This kills my mom. She thinks we should have meat at least once a day. This will never happen. I have never been a big meat eater and I am not going to start now.
So this blog is going to be about the meals I make. I will also include the ratings my husband gives them on a 1-10 scale. He gives a lot of dishes 6 1/2. This in his mind is better than average. A 6 1/2 is actually a pretty good rating. I have never gotten higher than a 9 and he loves my cooking. I have gotten a 3 once, but that was after the Easter bean fiasco of 2010, but we won't talk about that.
Enjoy!
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